Is hazy beer a big deal, other than judging..

When the yeast is still in suspension, causing your beer to look hazy, not clear, what is the problem with it? It doesn't make it taste any different does it? Do people want it clear just for appearance or are there other benefits I haven't read?

-Matt

well, yeast itself does have a flavor. in fact each different kind has its own, and some are stronger than others. i'd say for a lot of us it's desirable to wait until the beer is relatively clear before bottling, but some beers never really do. of course, some amount of live yeast is desirable in some styles as well. bottom line, if it tastes good, then no it's not a big deal.

oh yeah, it also makes you fart.

Depends too...if it's a wheat cloudiness is expected.

If it is a floculating yeast the beer is not finished. If it is a less floculating yeast then it may stay cloudy. Yes the yeast has a slight flavor but it is part of the style (ie: wheat beer). If you like a beer that has a haze then it is good enough to drink but it may get better if you wait. Proper aging beer is a must for good beer.

Yeah I made a blackberry wheat once and it was cloudy..of course. But after awhile sitting in the fridge i began to clear. It tasted the same when the yeast settled to the bottom of the bottle as it did when it was still in suspension.

Heavy flavoring will mask yeast taste in a wheat beer. A plain wheat beer will make this easier to taste.

I'm making a Long Trail clone from Austin Homebrew. I've put it in a secondary to clear. How clear should I expect it to be before I bottle? I mean, can you see straight through the carboy and see things on the other side?

excluding lagers,

i'm reading threads to ferment it two weeks or so and bottle or keg it, use clarifying agents..

i'm reading threads to rack to a secondary

i'm reading threads to leave it in the primary minimum 4 weeks...

i'm confused....i wonder what the monks did...

Most ales of reasonable gravity do NOT need a secondary vessel because 2 to 3 weeks is not enough time for autolisis to occour. They DO need more time in the primary so the yeast can clean up fermentation byproducts. 2 to 3 weeks for a 50 point (1.050) beer is fine. Ferment in the lower end of the yeast's recommended temperature range and you will make a very clean beer.

snail said:

I'm making a Long Trail clone from Austin Homebrew. I've put it in a secondary to clear. How clear should I expect it to be before I bottle? I mean, can you see straight through the carboy and see things on the other side?

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You should be able to read the NY Times through the carboy.

Is the haze occurring in your carboy or in a bottled beer? Haze in a cool, bottled beer is called "chill haze", and it is caused by insufficient cold break during cooling after your boil. It is purely aesthetic, it has no taste. The haze is caused by proteins that failed to precipitate to the bottom of the pot during cooling.

KayaBrew said:

Is the haze occurring in your carboy or in a bottled beer? Haze in a cool, bottled beer is called "chill haze", and it is caused by insufficient cold break during cooling after your boil. It is purely aesthetic, it has no taste. The haze is caused by proteins that failed to precipitate to the bottom of the pot during cooling.

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+1. Keep in mind that yeast is not the only reason a beer can be hazy. When I brewed with extract most of my beers weren't clear, but it wasn't due to yeast.

Beernewb said:

excluding lagers,

i'm reading threads to ferment it two weeks or so and bottle or keg it, use clarifying agents..

i'm reading threads to rack to a secondary

i'm reading threads to leave it in the primary minimum 4 weeks...

i'm confused....i wonder what the monks did...

Click to expand...

yeah, there is a lot of contradictory information out there. a whole lot of us do what WBC recommends and leave the beer in primary for three weeks. this is usually long enough for the beer to clear on its own and well short of the timeframe for autolysis to occur.

you can push the time period shorter if the beer clears and tastes good, but that usually involves a lot of technique (cold crash in primary, force carbonation, finings maybe) and also a bit of luck. let the beer tell you when its ready and give it a good environment to develop and you wont go wrong. the benefits of waiting an extra week or two almost always outweigh the cost.

as for the monks. i think they made beer as their predecessors had, with dutiful attention to detail but without the sort of obsessive attention to flavor that most of us give. remember, they always had bigger things on their mind